Source document: https://docs-lawep.s3.us-east-2.amazonaws.com/1698944323990.pdf (South Africa)
Western Cape Measures to Mitigate against the Economic and Fiscal Impact of the July 2021 Public Violence, Looting and Destruction of Property Western Cape Minister of Economic Opportunities: David Maynier 23 November 2021 Contents 1.

Impact of July 2021 Public Violence, Looting and Destruction of Property 2.

Mitigation Immediate Response Short - Medium term response: Western Cape Recovery Plan 3.

Conclusion 1.
Conclusion 1.

Impact of July 2021 Public Violence, Looting and Destruction of Property on the Western Cape Western Cape July Violence Impact 1: Decrease in Business Confidence (BCI) BER Business Confidence Index - SA vs WC 2015Q1-2021Q3 While Western Cape was not directly affected by the July lootings and violence, the Region’s Business Confidence (BCI) decreased from 51 points to 49 in Q3 (July) of 2021in response to threat of public violence and actual taxi violence.
National decline of BCI at 7 points to 43 in 2021Q3.

BCI rating below 50 points reflects a reluctance by Private Sector to invest.
i s t n o p e g a t n e c r e P 60 50 40 30 20 10 0 201 5Q 1 201 5Q 2 201 5Q 3 201 5Q 4 201 6Q 1 201 6Q 2 201 6Q 3 201 6Q 4 201 7Q 1 201 7Q 2 201 7Q 3 201 7Q 4 201 8Q 1 201 8Q 2 201 8Q 3 201 8Q 4 201 9Q 1 201 9Q 2 201 9Q 3 201 9Q 4 202 0Q 1 202 0Q 2 202 0Q 3 202 0Q 4 202 1Q 1 202 1Q 2 202 1Q 3 South Africa 46 42 37 36 35 32 40 39 37 27 32 33 44 40 34 31 28 28 21 26 18 5 24 40 35 50 43 Western Cape 57 50 54 47 42 44 51 51 44 33 37 42 53 56 34 39 35 39 22 32 22 8 19 43 29 51 49 Source: BER, 2021 Western Cape July Violence Impact 3: Decline in SMME turnover Western Cape SMME Turnover negatively impacted by threat of public violence and actual taxi violence shown by turnover index falling to lowest levels in 2021.
Covid Level 3 & 4 restrictions also impacted negatively on SMMEs’ turnover at the same time.

Western Cape July Violence Impact 3: Decrease in consumer/ employee Mobility Google Mobility Data is based on the cell phone and traffic data, indicating people mobility as indicator of consumption/ work trends.
Data indicates that on the 23rd of July 2021, WC mobility was down 58% below the baseline July events like the 3rd wave of infections, Levels 3 & 4 restrictions, July public Violence and taxi violence all contributed to a significant decrease in mobility.
Western Cape Industry response on impact of Violence: Snap Survey Results WC Industry bodies who responded to the survey represented over 220 000 employees 92% of respondents had been affected by the transport disruptions due to Taxi violence 54% of respondents lost income because of the disruptions, with 22% saying they lost 50% or more of their daily revenue 26% of respondents were unable to continue operating due to the disruptions Areas most impacted by Taxi violence and Other long-term impacts and comments listed by respondents: threat of public violence • Potential loss of foreign investment • Demoralised staff • • Loss of staff income and jobs Increased business expenses to ensure safe transport of employees • Construction progress slow/halted 2.
Mitigation We have been committed to ensuring responsible economic activity 1.

Multiple business engagements : Engagements with Shopping Mall owners after the unrest, both via virtual platforms and physical ‘on the ground’ engagements.

Engagements with BPO Sector after the taxi violence Subsequent engagements with BPO sector and manufacturing sector concerning extortion and threats 2.
Two in-depth snap surveys with business concerning: Lock down level 4 restrictions which provided “on the ground” input as to the effects of lock down restrictions Effects of Taxi violence on businesses in the Western Cape 3.
Visible presence of and interaction by Minister Maynier at 6 shopping malls over the weekend of 16-18 July Go to Insert > Header & Footer > Enter presentation name into footer field 9 Immediate response to July 2021: Immediate threat of violence To prepare for the potential threat of public looting and violence, as was experience in Gauteng and KwaZulu- Natal, the Western Cape Department of Economic Development and Tourism (DEDAT) undertook the following steps: 1.
Relied on its partnership with the Western Cape (WC) Safety and Security Cluster to obtain and provide information that could help businesses and the Security Cluster to prepare and mitigate risks posed to the Region.

2.

Received and solicited inputs from private sector regarding their preparedness, concerns and any information they were picking up on of possible violence and looting to share with WC Safety Cluster.

3.
3.

DEDAT established a partnership with Consumer Goods Council of South Africa (CGCSA) to: a. b.

Identify key safety points that should be protected to ensure food security and support such preparedness with WC Safety Cluster and National.

Facilitated information-sharing and support between businesses and CGCSA and WC Security cluster to inform approach and preparations in anticipation of violence.
the Western Cape Recovery Plan fundamental recognizes interrelation between safety and economic growth through its collaborative Recovery Plan.

2.a.

Immediate response to July 2021: Immediate threat of violence 4.

Direct engagement with Investors through Wesgro, ASEZ and SBIDZ to offer and provide support as may have been required.

5.

Daily Cabinet Security briefing meetings chaired by Premier held from 15th July to 19th July inclusive at 07h30 every morning 6.
Daily Economic Cluster security briefing meetings chaired by Provincial Minister Maynier held from 16th July to 26th July at 07h00 to feed into Provincial Cabinet briefings 7.

Continuous monitoring of ‘Red Tape Reduction’ and ‘Consumer Goods’ hotlines to identify information and support business and consumers as may have been required.
Response to Taxi Violence Specifically: DEDAT supported businesses through their ‘Ease of Doing Business’ and ‘Investment & Export’ towards finding mitigation measures like the appointment of private transport and working with the Safety Cluster to identify hotspots requiring support.

There were also daily early morning briefings related to the Taxi Violence.

2.b.
Short- Medium Term Approach to recovery: Key Initiatives accelerated Accelerate Ease of Doing Business Boost Investment and exports Support SMMEs and the Informal Sector Scaling up work opportunities and skills for people without jobs Economic Resilience • Innovative business • Improved international and • SMME assistance interventions • Improve access to • Diversify the regional support national positioning of the • Provide support to businesses in skills workplace • Unblock constraints Western Cape region the informal sector.
opportunities (i.e.

ports) (Investment Promotion) • Support to SMMEs to better access • Increase internships • Red tape reduction • Promote trade in key WCG initiatives and value chain and skills support for municipalities • Efficiency improvement in government procedures and administrative systems • Legislative reform destination markets (i.e.
rest of Africa) • • • Improve ease of doing business and the investment ecosystem Improved investment facilitation Improved retention strategy • Optimising resourcing within the investment ecosystem • Increase productivity growth and product complexity • Support tourism – Air access • Support key sectors with opportunities opportunities in selected sectors programmes • SMME participation in WCG service • Improve the skills delivery programmes and the linked ecosystem initiatives • Increased access by SMMEs to procurement public and private sector opportunities; • Increase entrepreneurship activity; • Build the Western Cape SMME support ecosystem, particularly at the municipal level energy mix and reduce energy intensity by promoting the natural gas sector; promoting & enabling solar PV installations by businesses and; energy efficiency amongst businesses and households • Initiatives that support the Green Economy • Climate change resilience • Water Resilience • Waste Management 3.
Conclusion Early signs of success Western Cape SMME turnover index (weekly average) improved by 51 percentage points by October 2021 Mobility Improved by 26.7 percentage points by October 2021.

Anticipated that Business Confidence will increase in Q4, currently at 49 points.
R1,505bn Value investment facilitated in Q2 2021 12,349 jobs created/ sustained by private sector due to support from DEDAT and WCG during the year thus far 34 606 work opportunities created through Infrastructure EPWP programmes as at 6 September 2021.

Over 1,088 businesses supported over Q1 and 2 through various interventions towards sustainability and/or increasing turnover Conclusion The Western Cape, like other parts of South Africa, was affected by the public violence in July 2021.
Western Cape businesses, workers and consumers were impacted negatively by the public violence in Gauteng and KZN, as well as the local Taxi violence.

There was an immediate response to July 2021 violence and the Taxi violence, to increase security and improve business confidence.
There has been some economic recovery during the calendar year, but we continue to work with our partners in industry and the Western Cape Safety Cluster to ensure that our businesses and region remain safe and can grow and create jobs.

Thank you